People are receiving calls saying a relative has been kidnapped and they need ransom money, but it's all fake and the calls aren't even from this country.
"I want you to be afraid, and test me. You're going to see my face. Alright. Don't call the police everything will be just fine. What happened they got nervous alright," the phone call said.
That is audio of a new scam with a new horrifying twist.
Jersey City Police say men call saying their holding people's family member hostage and they demand money and threaten to kill their loved one.
"You're brother has already seen my face. I don't want anybody else to see my face alright. My cousin took out a gun and broke his head you see, I told him to calm down, he wanted to act stupid. That's what happens to him," the caller said.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Deputy Police Chief Peter Nalbach say the calls come from Puerto Rico and Florida.
This has been going on in the tri-state area for several months and in Jersey City for several weeks.
"They're just fishing getting somebody who's gullible and they don't ask enough questions. Fortunately, this woman's brother called because she would have been scammed out of the money," Jersey City Deputy Police Chief Peter Nalbach said.
Investigators say one woman fell for the scam and believed her brother would be murdered, fortunately that sibling called just before she made the transfer.
"We want all of our citizens to know that there are a lot of scammers out there. This is the latest scheme scam or flip flam that some of these have come up with. We want you to be alert, aware, and vigilant," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said.
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